Anton Šťastný Explained

Anton Šťastný
Birth Date:5 August 1959
Birth Place:Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
Height Ft:6
Height In:0
Weight Lb:188
Shoots:Left
Played For:HC Slovan Bratislava
Quebec Nordiques
HC Fribourg-Gottéron
EHC Olten
Ntl Team:TCH
Ntl Team 2:SVK
Draft:198th overall
Draft Year:1978
Draft Team:Philadelphia Flyers
83rd overall, 1979
Quebec Nordiques
Career Start:1976
Career End:1994

Anton Šťastný (born August 5, 1959) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey left winger who played nine seasons with the Quebec Nordiques of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1980 until 1989. He was the first player born and trained in Slovakia to be drafted by an NHL team. He is the brother of Vladimír, Bohumil, Eva, Marián, and Peter Šťastný, and the uncle of Yan Stastny and Paul Stastny (both Peter's sons), all of whom have been involved in ice hockey at a professional level. Anton's son, Thomas Šťastný, played in Switzerland, last for Martigny in 2015.

Playing career

Šťastný was originally drafted 198th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft, but the selection was ruled invalid after it was determined Šťastný was too young to be drafted.[1] He re-entered and was drafted 83rd overall by the Nordiques in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. He played 650 career NHL games, scoring 252 goals and 384 assists for 636 points and scored at least 25 goals in eight consecutive seasons.

He played his first nine seasons alongside his brother Peter, four of which were also played alongside Marián. They were the third trio of brothers to play on the same professional hockey team (the first being the Bentley brothers of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1940s and the second being the Plager brothers of the St. Louis Blues in the 1970s). He ranks ninth overall in NHL points by a Slovak player. Anton and Peter share the rookie record for points in a game, with 8, which they accomplished in the same game against the Washington Capitals on February 22, 1981. Two days earlier, they each recorded six points against the Vancouver Canucks. These two games, played two days apart, are four out of the nine total instances in which rookies have recorded at least 6 points in a game.[2]

Personal life

Anton was born in Bratislava, the fifth son of Stanislav and Frantiska. His two older brothers, Vladimir (born 1945) and Bohumil (born 1947) were born when the family still lived in the village of Pružina, about 170 kilometres northeast of Bratislava. They moved to Bratislava before the birth of Marián (1953), Peter (1956), and Eva (1966). Stanislav worked for a state-run company that built hydro-electric dams until 1980 when he retired, and mainly dealt with managing inventory. Frantiska stayed at home and raised the children.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

  Regular season Playoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
1977–78Slovan ChZJD BratislavaTCH44 19 17 36 22
1978–79Slovan ChZJD BratislavaTCH44 32 19 51 38
1979–80Slovan ChZJD BratislavaTCH40 30 30 60 33
1980–81Quebec NordiquesNHL80 39 46 85 125 4 3 7 2
1981–82Quebec NordiquesNHL68 26 46 72 1616 5 10 15 10
1982–83Quebec NordiquesNHL79 32 60 92 254 2 2 4 0
1983–84Quebec NordiquesNHL69 25 37 62 149 2 5 7 7
1984–85Quebec NordiquesNHL79 38 42 80 3016 3 3 6 6
1985–86Quebec NordiquesNHL74 31 43 74 193 1 1 2 0
1986–87Quebec NordiquesNHL77 27 35 62 813 3 8 11 6
1987–88Quebec NordiquesNHL69 27 45 72 14
1988–89Quebec NordiquesNHL55 7 30 37 12
1988–89Halifax CitadelsAHL16 9 5 14 4
1989–90HC Fribourg–GottéronNDA36 25 22 47 3 3 4 7
1990–91EHC OltenNDA36 26 14 40 10 10 16 26
1991–92EHC OltenNDA33 20 19 39 668 10 6 16 22
1993–94HC Slovan BratislavaSVK11 6 8 14 2
TCH totals128 81 66 147 93
NHL totals650 252 384 636 15066 20 32 52 31

International

YearTeamEvent GPGAPtsPIM
1977CzechoslovakiaEJC6 6 2 8 0
1978CzechoslovakiaWJC6 4 2 6 4
1979CzechoslovakiaWJC6 3 4 7 6
1979CzechoslovakiaWC8 5 1 6 2
1980CzechoslovakiaOLY6 4 4 8 2
Junior totals18 13 8 21 10
Senior totals14 9 5 14 4

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1978 NHL Amateur Draft -- Anton Stastny . Hockey Draft Central. July 29, 2016.
  2. Web site: NHL Rookies With 6 Points In A Game StatMuse . www.statmuse.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20220126050606/https://www.statmuse.com/nhl/ask/nhl-rookies-with-6-points-in-a-game . 2022-01-26.